Im annoyed at how these programs infiltrate our systems without our knowledge & Id better list this here in case someone sends me another invititation by plaxo, friendster, Hi5, birthdayalarm or anything remotely similar because of their policy of putting cookies & keeping your contact list on their server. They will share not sell these names to their so called partners who are SPAMMERS. Thats why it a FREE service. You can remove it from your PC immediately by going to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
First of all, there are several things you need to do to your computer. Internet sites put cookies & advertisement wares to your computer & it sits in the temporary internet files folder. Then some sites as you surf, put out web spiders/robots to search for email addresses & personal information like account passwords & stuff & collects them for spam. The ad-ware is to put annoying advertisements that also sends out a copy of your information to their home website for more spam the next time you log on to the internet. So by understanding the works of the spywares & adwares, here are the websites you can go to download a firewall & a spy robot for FREE. The files are of a considerable size if you only have dial-up so when you get home, cue the download & have your dinner. Of course, if you are in the office with a broadband connection, you ought to get it done as all these things can compromise the security of your system. Another thing you must have is a download accelerator that speeds up download times by more than 30%. Of course, all these would have to be shouldered & protected by an updated anti virus program like Norton or McAfee. (Click on update virus definition files BEFORE you begin any of these downloads. VERY IMPORTANT FIRST STEP).
Lets begin….
Go to www.zdnet.com & search for downloads. Once on that page, search for Sygate Personal Firewall or Outpost Firewall. Click to download. Once finished, unzip the file to install into your computer. This would act as a gatekeeper for all unsolicited information trying to get out of your computer & whatever program thats trying to get in. You can then choose what you want to allow. Like Internet Explorer, your browser which you surf in, when you log onto the internet, the firewall would prompt you with a message IExplorer.exe is trying to access 45727409294 port, do you want to allow it to access the network? Just press yes & check the box so that it wont asks you again. This is for programs that you want to have seamless access. Allow Norton or McAfee programs to access internet too. Restart computer. Once this is up your computer should be relatively safe from unsolicited spy programs, for the time being. You have do regular housekeeping.
If you have a download accelerator, then you will save yourself a lot of headaches. FlashGet Basic version has spywares but the pro version doesnt. You can get it here Amazesoft.
Go to Spybot to get the software by Patrick Kolla. Install it after download & click on check for problems button. It searches for all the spy advertisements robots residing in your computer & anything that changes your computer registry. When everythings found, uncheck those by Windows or Microsoft. Beware though, dont alter anything that says Windows or Microsoft, as they may have added to your registry as they contain critical updates to keep your system up to date. Then click on fix selected problems. Then this will block them & click on immunise according to the steps shown. Play around with the features & see what else you want to do for your system. Its really good. You need to check & immunise your system every now & then. Leave the computer on overnight to do all your virus scanning & spy bot checks so that you can follow up in the morning. Second adware removal application you should have is Adaware. Although SpyBot arrests a lot of spywares, it is not enough. You need Adaware too. Yes, a lot of tedious work but well worth it. Beware though, a lot of sites are inaccessible as some of them places cookies on your system as you enter. Now that my firewall is adjusted properly, it wouldnt even allow me to visit Site Meter. I constantly contest with TV Smith to the right or better site tracker to use. Will tell you how to remove spam after this whole process is over. This is just the beginning to prevent more spam. I hate spam.
Once all these are done, you need to open Internet Explorer & click on Tools, Internet Options, see the middle section with Temporary Internet files? Click on Delete Files & OK. If you have not done this before, it would take quite awhile as the computer destroys a large cache. Now that Ive discovered Firefox, its bye bye IE. Firefox blocks pop-ups & arrests them like an electric fly-swat! Once done, click on Delete Cookies. Do this once as there may have been a lot of personal information stored on your cookies for retrieval by third parties. Clearing your cache is CRUCIAL IF YOU DO INTERNET BANKING ON YOUR COMPUTER. DO IT AFTER YOU EACH TIME AFTER YOU FINISH YOUR TRANSACTION.
Now you are ready to treat SPAM! If you are not using Microsoft Outlook, then change to it immediately as it gives better control of your email & filters. Select import all mail & addresses when it prompts you that another mail client is your default mail reader. Change the default to Outlook.
Then go to Tools, Send/Receive Settings, Define Send/Receive Groups, click Edit, then right at the bottom, click on Download complete item including attachments & check on the box – download items no larger than …….select 20kb. This way, only the headers are downloaded so you choose which ones you want fully downloaded & which ones you want to discard. The offensive messages stays on the server & when they are deleted they will be deleted on the server. When you right click, there are several options to either download message from server or delete. Delete that stupid SPAM. Since filtering begins as you download, you save precious resource, space & time when you discern whats genuine & whats not. The latest Outlook comes with Junk Mail control & Rights Management capabilities.
Now that youve finished, your system should be relatively secure from Spy & Ad cookies. Just remember to do your housekeeping at least once a week on & every other day for antivirus definition files. Do give me a shout should you get stuck at any point doing these updates. I learnt most of my computer handling in the Dummies books too.
Great post. Once I started using firefox, I never look back. 🙂
Pummkin – My name is Stacy Martin and I am the Privacy Officer here at Plaxo responsible for addressing Privacy, Security, and Trust issues pertaining to the usage of Plaxo.
While I can not speak for the other services that you mentioned, I can speak for Plaxo. I hope you find my comments sincere when I say that Plaxo does NOT “share”, “sell”, or exchange any information members manage within our service. We absolutely do not work with or support the activities of spammers. If you have heard or read otherwise, you have been misinformed.
True – the basic Plaxo service is free, and it is also true that Plaxo generates revenue through the upsell of Premium services build on top of the free basic service. These premium services include services such as our VIP Support, Holiday Card Service, Birthday Reminder Service, Wireless solutions, and Address book optimizer for cleaning out duplicates, with more services to come.
We currently have nearly 5M users within the Plaxo service. People use our service to help manage their contact list information better and easier. In addition to helping to update out of date contact information and automatically keep it updated, Plaxo also provides of benefits such as anywhere, anytime web access to the member’s information, and automated quick backup and recovery capabilities for this critical information. Many a member has lost all of their data due to a system crash or lost laptop, only to be able to quickly restore their important address book data through Plaxo.
I should also note that managing your address book within Plaxo is really no different that managing the same type of information within a service such as Yahoo! or MSN Hotmail. You, yourself may have an address book online with a web mail service provider. The information members chose to manage with Plaxo and stored within our service is kept secure and is only accessible by the Plaxo member. The information is only used as instructed by the Plaxo member, and as I previously mentioned, Plaxo does NOT “share”, “sell”, or exchange any information with any 3rd parties.
But I would also like to commend you on the sound and useful advice you have provided regarding how to avoid and remove Spyware or Adware. Readers would be well served to follow your advice as I often recommend the usage of Spybot S&D and Adaware myself. I’m sure people will also find that these programs confirm that Plaxo is not spyware nor adware.
And if I may, I would also like to recommend for people who do not have an updated virus checking program, they can use a free online version such as TrendMicro’s HouseCall: http://housecall.trendmicro.com. They can use this service from a well-known anti-virus vendor to perform a free virus scan and clean up.
I apologize for my lengthy comment, but I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
Stacy Martin
Plaxo Privacy Officer
privacy @t plaxo.com
Thank you, Stacy, for taking the time to write your comment & I’m sure people who read this will be able to determine for themselves whether or not to utilise Plaxo. I’ve taken the time to read your privacy policy as one of the very first people to sign up as member however, I’ve found the program to be very obtrusive as I have more than a dozen people who have signed up for the service, to send me reminders to update my info, three or four times each…! The automated response sent to the non-response of addressees, tantamounts to spamming too. I’m not about to disclose additional information which is going to be stored on a server, accessible to others although you may say, it’s only for the use of the member. Plaxo may not be a spyware nor adware, but there are many people(those who sign up) who are not PC literate, who’s computers may be hacked & passwords obtained by hackers who would then access the Plaxo database & get the information. That was my main concern apart from spam, when I wrote this. It’s merely to educate people on their rights & the possibilities. Having said that, thank you for visiting my blog & hope you would come back & read the other non-geeky stuff that I do too!
Interesting and useful advice on the handling of spam and related stuff. Some of the readers may want to consider using alternative platforms to MS-Windows as the majority of these malware (yes I treat lump these spam/soyware etc. together with malware) are meant to infiltrate MS-Windows. The current batch of open-source software (OSS) desktop operating platforms like FreeBSD and Linux are mature enough for most users if their needs are mainly the traditional web surfing, email and office applications. In particular Ubuntu Linux and Fedora Linux stands out in my opinion as suitable replacements for the MS-Windows desktop.
In addition using OSS has the added advantage of empowering the user as OSS tends to be user/community-centric in its development and usage as opposed to mainly vendor-centric for proprietary close-source software.
—
Soo Hoe
Hi Pummkins,
I think you have some valid concerns there about spywares, adwares and spamming.
Spywares and adwares will be installed quietly without our knowledge at all. The next thing you know, your machine will be sending out some information collected from our PC through spywares and our PC will also be getting unwanted ads popping up through the hidden adwares. PC performance will also suffer.
For more options, you can go to Microsoft to get a beta version of their anti-spyware software.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx
As for plaxo, friendster, Hi5, etc, they however, will spam you with request to join and numerous reminders updating information, etc. However, I believe they will not sell your information to 3rd parties as they are bound by Truste.org for privacy adherence. If there is a complaint, you can actually send your complaint to Truste.org. In case of Plaxo, they are trustE certified.
http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php
I guess you must be wondering why I might be interested in this particular topic. I am a Malaysian, currently embarking on similar concepts like Hi5, Plaxo, Ryze, etc. This concept is very much related to a sociology concept called social networking. There is a boom in US for websites with such concepts, especially relating to weak ties concept. And a lot of VCs in US are actually funding start-ups doing this. For this, check out this website – http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com/
The main idea here is that there is a viral effect that allows you to create a huge network of members in a very short time. And it is relying on your exisitng relationship and friendship. The idea is that you can meet new friends (potential dates), jobs, business contacts, spread of new fads,etc. through this type of network So, you bound to receive more of this type of emails in future.
Hence, you have Plaxo for update of latest addresses of friends, Hi5 and Friendster for meeting new friends through your existing friends, birthdayalarm for birthday reminders, Ryze for Business Networking, etc.
In fact, Instant Messenger such as yahoo messenger and msn messenger are considered a social networking tool, only they are not seen intrusive. Other form of loose concept of social networking is like ahmoi.com and match.com.
Ok, straight to the point. We are building a concept called Personal Relationship Management tool. It will be built into the browser (at the moment is only in Internet Explorer). It aims to help you to manage your friendship and family ties, build quality relationship and loyalty and provide joys of giving and sharing.
It allows you to do the following things
1. Keep in touch with only really close friends, and family.
2. Combine the various things we do to show our appreciation to family and friends –
a. Birthday reminders, leading to
b. finding out what to buy for that someone special through his/her wishlist,
c. Solving gift ideas headache,
d. Getting the best deal for the ideal gift from Amazon, Walmart.com,
e. then simplifying the whole gift-buying process.
3. Having online information (sadly, we do this too), so that you can share latest change in address, use this information to do buying by filling order form automatically, etc.
In future, we hope to add in money-pooling to buy a gift, organize events together, partner with e-greeting card companies, partner with online photoalbum, etc. We are trying to make it simple and convenient from send e-greeting to buy gifts to share photo album through the browsers without the hassle of too many steps.
We are planning to release the full version in US first within this half of the year 2005.
It is still in its’ infancy, we have not really tried to market it strongly yet. We still in the midst of experimenting our beta version within a small sample group what features will be useful for the users and also it is still not perfect yet in term of user friendliness.
Seeing from your blog comments, I can foresee some challenges that we will face when we proceed further to market it.
The questions I am trying to answer here are
1. How to balance benefits from the values by having such tools as ours, as compared to fear in loss of privacy?
2. How to market with being intrusive and creating a spamming scenario, as we also have a viral effect in the tool?
3. Are there any benefits at all in these types of concepts?
I am trying to get answers for these questions to further improve the tool itself and ways to market it later.
I guess I am trying to solicitate some feedback in an unconventional way, through your blog, rightly or wrongly. Anyway, hope my information prove to be useful even if I didn’t get the feedback.
Thanks.
cheers,
Kwong Yew Cheng,
y@oheyo.com
http://www.oheyo.com
oheyo.blogspot.com (not updated frequently yet)
Good advice. I was actually looking for suggestions on how to get Friendster, Hi5, and that “Maybe we’ll both win $10 000” message from appearing in my inboxes 10 times every day. My friends receive the messages but never sign up for the services, but the e-mail they’ve opened must plant spyware on their computer that e-mails the same “invitation” message to everyone in their address books.
None of us have responded to the e-mails or signed up for the service, but these companies are STILL harvesting our address books. I’m hoping since I have been using only web-based e-mail for months now that these spybots haven’t spoofed my address to all the people in my OE address book, but I don’t know. Nobody’s told me about receiving anything from me, anyway.
As for software to prevent attacks, I love Ad-Aware. For a firewall, I recommend Zone Alarm, and for anti-virus I recommend AVG, which is available at http://www.grisoft.com . Add to that my use of Gmail instead of anything downloaded into Outlook Express, and I think I’m doing pretty well.
Also worth trying, although you have to pay a few dollars for it if you want to use multiple accounts, is Mailwasher. It will just download the headers for you, even from Hotmail accounts, and you can make it generate false “bounce” messages so the spammers think your address doesn’t exist. Very cool. I’ve used it on people that have harassed me online, where I’ve blocked them from MSN Messenger and they continue harassment via e-mail. I’ll just set the bounce on them, and they think I never received their message. Sweet!
You actually make it seem really easy along with your presentation but I to find this matter to
be really something which I think I might never
understand. It kind of feels too complex and extremely vast for
me. I’m having a look forward in your subsequent put up, I will try to get the grasp of it!